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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina continued to rise from 9,675 Tuesday to 10,107 Wednesday. There have been 379 deaths in the state attributed to the virus, an increase of 19 overnight. There are currently 551 COVID-19 associated hospitalizations. According to Beaufort County Health Department Director Jim Madson, four of those hospitalizations have been Beaufort County COVID-19 cases.

In Beaufort County, there were 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Fifteen of the 22 confirmed cases have recovered from COVID-19. Seven cases remain active, none of which are hospitalized.

Five of Beaufort County’s positive cases were asymptomatic, meaning they experienced no symptoms, according to the Tuesday update from Beaufort County’s Office of Emergency Services and Beaufort County Health Department.

The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. rose from 1,004,908 Tuesday to 1,034,884 on Wednesday; these numbers include the 116,811 people in the U.S. known to have recovered from COVID-19. The U.S. has the highest number of cases worldwide; worldwide, there have been approximately 3,173,036 positive cases. Nationwide, 60,207 deaths have been attributed to the virus, an increase of 2,396 overnight.

North Carolina has confirmed cases in 98 counties.

Of Beaufort County’s total of 22 cases, contact tracing of these known, confirmed cases has concluded:

• seven cases have been attributed to direct contact with a known patient from another county;
• two cases were related to travel to a known outbreak area;
• 13 cases are attributed to community spread.

All active cases are self-isolating, the update reads.

Eastern North Carolina counties with current cases include: Bertie (38), Beaufort (22), Bladen (20), Brunswick (43), Carteret (28), Camden (1), Chowan (7), Columbus (103), Craven (39), Currituck (5); Dare (15), Duplin (78), Edgecombe (81), Gates (7), Greene (15), Halifax (58), Hertford (34), Hyde (1),  Jones (12), Lenoir (60), Martin (16), New Hanover (79), Northampton (82), Onslow (43), Pamlico (7), Pasquotank (36), Pender (11), Perquimans (13), Pitt (120), Sampson (51), Tyrrell (4), Washington (24), Wayne (651) and Wilson (155). Durham (712), Mecklenburg (1,567) and Wake (788) counties have the most cases in North Carolina.

There have been 291 tests completed in Beaufort County as of Wednesday, with 260 negatives, 19 positives and 12 pending. These are cumulative numbers and include tests performed at the health department and reporting private medical facilities through the county.

“Three of our positive cases were tested in other counties, but are Beaufort County residents,” the update reads.